成仏

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 成仏 is a noun read じょうぶつ, referring in Buddhist or narrative contexts to attaining peace or passing on. It forms the verb 成仏する.
• Basic usage: It can describe a ghost finding peace or a prayer that a deceased person may rest in peace.
  • 物語の幽霊は最後の願いがかなって成仏しました。 says that the ghost in the story found peace after its final wish was fulfilled; 僧侶は亡き人の成仏を静かに祈りました。 says that the monk quietly prayed for the deceased to rest in peace.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 願いがかなって
  • The て-form links fulfillment of the final wish with the ghost's subsequent release.
• 成仏を祈る
  • を marks the deceased person's peaceful passing as what the monk prayed for.
• 成仏 and 死ぬ
  • 死ぬ states that life ends, while 成仏 focuses on a deceased being attaining spiritual peace.